A page for a mysterious Ford E-150 has been discovered on NHTSA’s website, prompting many to wonder what it’s referring to. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with mysteries, the answer is disappointingly reasonable.
The excitement started because Ford, like every other major automaker, has been showing an affinity for adding the letter E to its recent electric vehicle names.
With a new electric F-150 on its way soon, there is some merit to the question of whether or not a new name will distinguish it from the internal combustion F-150. Sadly, this won’t be it.
Although the Mach-E and E-Transit both add the letter to familiar names, Ford isn’t simply replacing the F with an E in the case of the electric F-150.
The first evidence of this is that the four “Manufacturer Communications” on NHTSA’s website all refer to the E-Series chassis. Although you won’t be able to find an “E-150” for sale through Ford’s fleet site, in this case, Ford assures us the name does refer to a van.
Also Read: Ford Leads Race On Customers’ Electric Pickup Consideration
Ford spokesperson, Mike Levine, took to Twitter to debunk the rumor earlier today, but we reached out to Ford anyway to get a little more clarity. Another spokesperson confirmed that the names refer to E-Series vans that are available in cutaway/chassis cab configurations.
It seems that the confusion stems from the public-facing nomenclature for the E-Series vans. In 2014, Ford stopped selling the “E-150” and replaced it with the Transit. Ford says, though, that the NHTSA site is just out of date. Indeed, Ford fleet vehicles are already being sold as 2022s (for reasons of residual value) something that the government site doesn’t reflect either.
Simply put, Ford says the page refers to a van. Unfortunately, that means we still have to wait for the manufacturer to tell what it’s calling the electric F-150 in their own time.
https://twitter.com/mrlevine/status/1354623398001987590